Sanofi's Genzyme delivering fabrazyme from U.S.

NadyaMasidlover

PARIS -(MarketWatch)- French pharmaceutical company Sanofi SA (SAN.FR) said Thursday that its Genzyme unit had started shipping Fabrazyme from its recently approved plant in Framingham, Mass.

The company said patients in the U.S. with Fabry disease will be able to return to full doses of the treatment this month and that all new patients in the U.S. are eligible to begin the treatment at full dosing levels.

"The ability to meet the needs of patients in the U.S. is an important first step in restoring unconstrained supply for all patients globally throughout the course of 2012," David Meeker, Genzyme's President and Chief Executive, said.

Genzyme has been beset by manufacturing and regulatory problems since 2009, when a contamination-related shutdown of its plant in Allston, Mass., caused a shortage of Genzyme's top-selling products--Fabrazyme for Fabry disease and Cerezyme for a condition called Gaucher's disease.

The company also said the process of moving the most severely affected patients in Europe to a full dose will begin this month.

At 1347 GMT, Sanofi shares traded up 1.9% at EUR56.55 while France's CAC-40 was up 0.9%.

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